Meta, Google top executives rake in big bonuses amid company-wide layoffs

SAN FRANCISCO: As tech giants like Meta and Google lay off thousands of employees and more job cuts are on the way, top executives took home hefty bonuses and compensation.

Meta workers grilled CEO Mark Zuckerberg during a virtual Q&A session about the six-figure bonuses given to senior executives amid layoffs, reports Entrepreneur.

According to Meta's filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released last week, C-suite executives like chief financial officer Susan Li received $575,613 in bonuses; chief product officer Chris Cox $940,214; chief operating officer Javier Olivan; chief technology officer Andrew Bosworth; Strategy Officer (CSO) David Whener $712,284 and former COO Sheryl Sandberg $298,385.

"Why did the entire executive team get EE/GE ratings (top-tier performance reviews at Meta) when they are also directly responsible for the choices that led to us needing to lay off 20+ per cent of the company? Where is the accountability?" one employee asked Zuckerberg, according to The Wall Street Journal.

C-suite executives received bonuses based on individual performance calculations, with the target percentage being 75 per cent.

Zuckerberg allegedly told employees that some of the executives had stepped into new roles and "taken on expanded scopes".

However, his response felt "shallow" and "patronising", said another employee.

Meanwhile, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai received compensation of nearly $226 million in 2022, according to the company's SEC filing.

All five other top executives at Alphabet also received compensation in the millions for 2022, with an increase of at least nine million compared to the prior year, the report mentioned.